My good-bye

Okay everyone. I think it is time to say goodbye to this blog page. Nothing is going on anymore. My life is in total normal zone again. It is awesome. I thank every single one of you. This blog has helped me so much! There were so many times that your comments would pick me up. Thank you. Threw your prayer our Jesus healed me. I have been given the chance to go and talk at a few youth groups around me to give my testimony. It is a bit scary, but I know God will be the one speaking threw me and that is just AWESOME! To only be 16 and the Lord use me in such a big way! Thank you Jesus!
Gabriella Vega is still a story I would love for you all to follow. This family is so awesome. They are totally give everything to the Lord and have time that it is hard to. They are very open and honest on their blog. Please continue to pray for this little girl. She just went home from a 3 week stay at PCH recovering from a stroke. She had a blood clot in her brain that caused her to have a stroke. he url is http://listeningthruthenoise.blogspot.com/ this family is ADORABLE! :] Thank you all again! This has been a amazing journey made possible by my friends, family, and strangers that I have been able to get to know and even the ones I have not. Thank you to all!!! :] I will be praying that Lord will bless all of you. That He will show you His healing power and grace and mercy, in your everyday life. Whether you do are do not believe in Him, He believes in you!!! :]

WE SAW Mr..I mean.. Dr. Shah :]

Sorry Everyone, I know I said I would write on Thursday. :] Well I went to see Dr. Shah on Wednesday. He explained everything to me and tried to come up with Medical reasons on why I was healed. He came in and said "You are not going to believe me, I even told my wife 'Oh Angela and her mom come in tomorrow and they are not going to believe my reasoning.'" This is true! :] We love Dr. Shah, but we know that we serve a all powerful healing God. We know it is Him that healed me. :]
They might want to do the cath to map out my electrical currents in my heart. That is what the svt is. So if they do that I will not have to take my medication anymore. As for now, he reduced them from one pill 2x a day, to just one pill at night. :]
Katlyn is working at my dad's work as a CSR :] she is going to college and working as a jr. high leader at our church. Yesterday we had a 7 hour purity conference. It was so amazing. We had a worship team from Calvary Chaple East Anaheim :] they were AMAZING! Just like Harvest worship! Thank you guys!
Nothing else is really new with our family. No news is good news though :]

My last post I talked about Gabriella. Or I think I did... anyway, she has Restrictive cardiomyopathy. On friday morning, she had a stroke due to a blood clot in her brain. :[ she is at Phoenix Children's right now. She has been responding very little. He blog is, www.gabriellasheart.com This family is SO strong! the also have prayer chain on FB. I want this little girl to have every person say one prayer for her. This girl is on my mind SO much and I want her and her family to have a UNBELIEVABLE peace. I was blessed to have it, I want them to also, and prayer is going to help. Please just say a fast prayer as you read it and tell everyone you know! :] Thank you! :]

I am back!!!! :]

Hello Everyone!!!! I am back! :]I thought I should update everyone on how life has been since we received the news that I was better. Well, I am now in school. I am pretty much known as the heart girl. :] I told some people last year and they just had to spread the news. Everyday I get to tell someone else my amazing story. There are still times that I am not so bold and do not give the glory to God. Instead I just say 'I am healed'. I know I know bad bad. I feel like God has made it SO easy , yet I still back down. Please pray for me.
Also, I am sad to report. Me and Trevor have broken up for the time being. Nothing bad happened. We just realized we should know each other a little bit better. :] We are going to remain friends and see where God takes it. :]
On the 23rd of THIS month I get to see Dr. Shah!!!!! *My Cardiologist* I am so excited! I have not seen him since he did my cath and told me I had the Restrictive Cardiomyopathy. He is just going to pretty much go over the numbers and talk to us. :] He is not a christian so we get to witness :]
I think I am going to write a book. God has allowed me to go through SO much just at the age of 16. I think it could be a very powerful book. i have NO idea when I will have time to start it though! :] maybe I can get extra credit in my English class ;]

I want to thank everyone again. This last year has allowed me to grow up so much. I have shared countless nights crying with people very close to me. I will hold those nights/days and conversations very close to me forever. I am very lucky to have such a AMAZING support group! :] Thank you! Please keep Jesse Catron (Jessecatron.com) In your prayers! She is Leukemia FREE!!!!! YAY!!!! But she is having many other health problems. ALSO! There was a man on FaceBook. Danny Alonso. He was 17. He had cancer, but he was called home. His family are new believers. PLEASE PLEASE pray for them! :] Thank you guys!!!!! :]

Grandpa! Can you believe it?!?! Our God that we serve is SO amazing! I want to thank every single person that has prayed for me, thought about me, donated, but most of all, I want to thank the people that have came either to God, or closer to Him. I was/am being used to bring people to Him, you guys are the reason God put me here. And He is still is not done with me!
God has been putting it on my heart to share something with you. The other day I was listening to a song. Well, it was a while ago. Anyway, I had on the shirt my grandma bought me. It has the Mathew verse I posted not that long ago. It talks about how God has taken care of the birds and plants. He will also take care of us. Well, I looked at the shirt and thought, how SELFISH!!!! We are on earth for no other reason than to serve God. Be examples of Him. Why do we need to ask God to make us happy? I am sure He was not very happy when He was on the cross cuz we decided to go against what He planned for us. I don’t know it’s hard to explain. But it really got me to think about how selfish we are as humans.
Thank you to everyone again. God has only started with me. I already have such a AMAZING testimony. I am only 16! I can’t wait to see where God is going to take me next! ALL GLORY TO HIM!!!!
Psalm 73:26
“MY HEART AND STRENGTH MAY FAIL, BUT GOD IS THE STRENGTH OF MY HEART, AND MY PORTION FOREVER” He is SOOOOO amazing!!!! God healed me! NOTHING is outside of His power.

We serve a good and awesome God!!!
He has healed our Angie!
The transplant team couldn't find anything wrong with her heart.
Her cardiologist confirmed that the transplant tests results were different than the ones from April.
They said that her heart "healed itself."
We know that our gracious God has blessed us! Thank you, Jesus!!
Thank you so much to all of you for your prayers.
We treasure each and every word that was lifted up on behalf of our Angie.
May God bless all of you as much as He has blessed us today!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers today. Unfortunately, we didn’t really get any answers today. There is a discrepancy in the findings of Angie’s cardiologist team and the transplant team. We are waiting on the 2 teams to get together to discuss their findings. After that, I want another echo done to double check what they have decided together. I know that it’s confusing. It’s been a confusing day. I have lost faith in the team from Tucson. If Angie is listed for a heart, we will be moving to have it done at another facility. I will let you know when I hear back from one of the doctors. Thank you again.

Melissa

Dear Dad,

Angie asked me to write and update you on what has been going on.

Last week Katlyn took her placement tests for the local community college. She did so well that they gave her a scholarship. Her first two years of school are going to be paid. We’re really proud of her. She starts college next week. (sob) We have been riding her a little bit about not having a job, so she has thrown herself into looking for one. It’s going to be weird with her working and going to college. I feel old.

Evie and Angie are both getting ready to start school too. I will have 3 kids in school and they will all still be in the house. Angie is doing an online school and I am home schooling Ev.

Angie had her sweet 16 party on Sunday. For the girl’s 16th birthdays, we buy them upgraded purity rings. They are diamond rings to signify how valuable their purity is. They are good kids so it is worth it. I spent 4 hours in the mall with Katlyn and Jess trying to find Angie’s ring. I usually know her taste, but wasn’t confident about the ring we chose. She was thrilled with it though, so I was very happy. Anyway, we had a house FULL of people here on Sunday. Grandma Malia and Papa Javier were out for that weekend too. You know how Malia is; she took Angie to get her nails and hair done. She got her new clothes, shoes and jewelry. They shopped for 3 days straight. It’s not my idea of a good time, but Angie was in shopping heaven. So, Angie had a great birthday and we are really happy about that.

Tomorrow we go and see Dr. Copeland and the transplant team.. They are going to tell us what they decided as far as listing her. I have a feeling they are going to want us to wait. I am really not happy about the idea of sitting around waiting for her to get sicker. How good is our God that His timing is perfect though? When she’s ready for her surgery, her heart will be too. (That’s so funny. What I just wrote reminds me of David in the Psalms. He starts off feeling overwhelmed by his circumstance and then remembers God.) Next week we have an appointment with Dr. Shah (the cardiologist that Angie LOVES) and with a pediatrician. Everyone keeps asking me who her primary doctor is. She hasn’t had one so we’re getting one.

Well, we are going to be seeing you in a few days. I can smell the beach already! Whoo-hoo!

Love,

Mel

Note: Melissa has asked me to post the link to The Harvest Crusade in Anaheim, CA.
Here is the Link.

Hey, Dad. Well, the wait continues. I talked to the transplant coordinator today. Apparently, when they say they will reach a decision on Friday about whether to list Angie or not means, "We will talk about it and we might or might not make a decision about listing Angie." Sue said that Dr. Copeland is the one who will make the decision and he hasn't yet. She said that we need to come in for the consltation on the 13th to go over the test results. She also said that Angie's numbers looked pretty good. I got the impression that we still might not get an answer on the 13th. Dr. Copeland is going to talk with Angie's cardiologist. This is all that I know to this point. God's timing is perfect and He is the one running the show. I am going to be like Peter (Acts 12) sleeping in the jail cell and not worry.

Love you guys. See you in a couple of weeks! We are pretty excited for the crusade and the beach.

-Mel.

PS You guys should come to the Crusade with us!

Hey, Dad. We just got home this afternoon from Tucson.
Sorry I didn’t call you to let you know how things were going. Angie said that she would write to update you, but she is a slacker, so I will do it.

So, we got to Tucson and met with the financial coordinator first. The main thing that I got from that meeting was that our insurance is going to pay for the transplant as in-network. Yay and praise God! I cried a little.

Then we met with the transplant coordinator Sue. We love her. Next Angie had her treadmill test and EKG. They said she did really well on the treadmill test. Next we met with a social worker. Angie described herself as “angry and easily irritated.” I said “You get that from my dad.” Ha, ha, ha. Then they had me meet with a psychologist.

I swear she kept falling asleep while I talked so I guess that means there weren’t any red flags that I’m crazy. (I would have bet the other way.)

Finally for Monday she had a chest x-ray, some dental x-rays and only 14 vials of blood drawn. Poor thing. We went to stay with a guy Eddie used to work with in Riverside and his family.
I was nervous about staying with people we don’t know, but they are the kindest family and we felt at home there.

On the way to their house, the truck started acting weird. It wasn’t drivable. Eddie called and got an appointment at Firestone for 7 am the next day. Aimee was bringing Katlyn, Evie and Trevor out to be with Angie during her cath the next day.
She got up and took her kids to our friend’s house at 3:30 am to go and get the truck so they could take it in. They were all so tired. Angie’s cath was a nightmare. She was supposed to be gone for 1 hour and she was in for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

When I got to see her, she was crying and said it was the scariest thing in her life. She kept waking up during the cath and could feel them sticking her. They had problems finding a vein because she is so small. They ended up calling in a pediatric cardiologist to do it. They tried to go into a vein in her neck. They said they gave her enough medicine to knock out a horse and she must have a very strong tolerance.

We thought they were going to knock her out, but I guess they don’t. We weren’t happy and we’ll leave that there. In the meantime, Eddie was calling to find out about the truck and Firestone didn’t touch it until noon.

We weren’t happy that Aimee and everyone else were so inconvenienced to get it there by 7 so it could sit. We’ll leave that there too. So, the cardiologist said that Angie’s pressures are really good.

She doesn’t have a whole lot that he could see that was wrong. There were a few things and he could see where her heart was thick, but she is in pretty good shape.

There is a pro and a con to that. Of course the pro is that she is doing well. The con is that if they feel that she doesn’t need a transplant immediately, they will not list her until she is really sick. They only list people who need a heart now. She WILL need a heart. It is just a matter of when they feel she is in immediate need. Doesn’t that suck?

Sue told us that they will meet on Friday to discuss Angie and make a decision as a team. Normally we would have to wait to see the team (August 13th) to find out the decision, but she said she would call us. See? We love Sue.

We went back to Jon and Jessie’s and Aimee got my kiddos home safe and sound.

Today we had an echo and we came home. It is Eddie and my 14th anniversary. OK I am going to give you a link to check out some pics of our vacation. Angie has a pretty stinkin good eye. We’re having a contest on Facebook to see who gets the most votes for best photo. She might win.

Love to all!

-Mel.
Vacation Photos

Hey, Dad.

We got a letter from UMC yesterday. They were explaining to us what to expect when we get to Tucson on the 27th. At 8 am we have to meet with a financial coordinator. (First things first, huh?) At 8:30 we meet with the transplant coordinator. 9:00 Angie has to do a treadmill test. I think they hook her up and test her heart and her lungs while she is exerting herself. At 10 she will get an EKG. At 10:30 she will meet with a social worker. 12:45 she has a 3 1/2 HOUR meeting with a psychologist! They have labs, chest x-ray, and a dental panorex listed as "anytime." On Tuesday they have the whole day set aside for her heart catheter. The procedure itself will be a couple of hours. Then she is required to lay flat on her back for 6 hours so they can make sure the hole the cath makes in her vein stops bleeding. On Wednesday we have an echo at 9:30 and we can come home! I am going to take Rai with me because I don't want Katlyn to be over whelmed at home watching Rai and Evie. Our church is going to bring meals for them on Monday and Tuesday nights. Aimee plans on driving out to Tucson on Tuesday. She is going to bring Katlyn and Evie with her. I miss my Evie when I'm not with her for a while. They are only going to stay for the day and then coming back home. It's going to be a rough few days for my Angie.

Tomorrow we leave for our trip. I am excited but very busy. I have a few other things besides getting ready for our trip that I am trying to get done. Rai likes to un-do things for me so some stuff I do I get to repeat a few times. :) I will send pictures of our gnome "Fred Roamin" from our trip. I put a 49er sticker on Fred's hat. Fred was a gift from my girls. I always wanted a gnome so we can take vacation pictures with him. I had heard a story about a family that had a garden gnome in their yard. One day there gnome was gone. The next thing they knew, they started getting pictures in the mail of their gnome from all over the world. People would take the gnome with them, send some pictures to the family and then hand the gnome off to other travelers to do the same thing. One day the gnome owners woke up to find their gnome back in their yard. I love that story, so thus the desire to take vacation pictures with Fred. The girls named him Fred Roamin because he is going to roam around with us.

Anyway, I love you guys. Talk to you in a couple of weeks.

-Mel.

Hey, Dad, guess what?!?!

WE HAVE THE TESTING DATES!!!!!

Finally, we know when we are doing the evaluation testing! July 27-29th. That is the day after we get back from our trip. We had an appointment for the consultation with the electric physiologist scheduled for the 28th so we had to move that to the 30th. That is the doctor who will do the cath for the SVT. Anyway, once they do the testing, we just have to wait for the insurance to approve the transplant and then for the transplant team to call us in and tell us that she is listed. I hope we can still go to CA in August!

One of Eddie's friends from when he worked at HomeTeam in Riverside is going to let us stay at his house in Tucson during the few days. He is the general manager for the HomeTeam branch there.

Angie is sad because she won't be able to see her "special friend" Trevor for 2 1/2 weeks.

Eddie went and got the wheelchair today too. Do you ever have those days when things just move right along? I LOVE these days! We have a busy couple of weeks coming up. I would rather be busy than sitting around though.

Love to you guys!

-Mel.

Dear Dad,

Angie's cardiologist called this afternoon. He was discussing Angela with another doctor. They both feel like it would be best if they address Angela's SVT now. The SVT is a problem with the electrical circuitry in her heart. Sometimes when the heart sends out a current to tell it to contract, the current gets looped back around. The loop causes her heart to beat really fast. When she was diagnosed, her heart rate was 267. Normally SVT isn't a major problem. She takes medicine to control it and there is a trick that she can do that fixes it. Dr. Shah thinks that because her heart is already having issues, that the SVT should be taken care of. I think what he meant was that if she has an SVT episode, she can have a sudden death event but he didn't want to say that. They want to go in with a cath again. They map the electircal current in her heart to figure out where the loop is occurring. Then they fix the problem. It doesn't always work. The procedure can last up to 8 hours. So we are supposed to get a call tomorrow to schedule the consultation with the doctor who will do the procedure. Poor Angie. This will mean she has 2 caths to look forward to. :( On a positive note, we have just about met our annual out-of-pocket in network max so this normally expensive proceudre should be pretty close to free for us.

I meant to tell you earlier too that Angela has decided to stay home next year for school. She has been trying to decide. I'm glad she'll be home..

OK, well that is all for now.

Love,

-Mel.

Dear Dad,

I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. There hasn't really been much to say. I have kept myself busy with planning and organizing for our trip. Eddie says I am doing it way too early because we don't leave for another 2 weeks.

Angie is doing ok. She has had a few episodes like some swelling she had in her feet. It wasn't enough swelling that anyone other than someone who knows what her feet normally look like would notice. That is one of the questions they ask her every time we go to the doctor: "Have you noticed any swelling in your hands, feet or stomach?" The day she had all the swelling she had been eating a lot of chips and Chex mix. I don't think she is drinking the amount of water she is supposed to be. We have cracked down on the salt and lack of water. She hasn't had any swelling issues since then. We have decided though, to buy a wheelchair for our trip. We found one for $20. It will come in handy if we have to walk fast or far or if we are standing for too long. She is not happy that at 15 she needs a wheelchair. On the 4th of July she had an episode after carrying Rainna up a flight of stairs. She said she went slow, but still she was winded and dizzy. A couple of weeks ago we were walking into Walmart. Katlyn, Evie and I were hurrying to get out of the heat, but it was too much to walk fast for Angie. Little things like that are occurring more. It's sad. We just keep praying that her heart and lungs will maintain their health until she gets her heart.

Would you guys pray for my friend Aimee and her family? They have a couple of things that they are dealing with right now that they could use the prayer for.

Love to all!

-Mel.

Hey Grandpa,

I wanted to up-date you with how I have been. I have been okay. As you know we met with Dr. Copeland, the one that will do my transplant, almost two weeks ago. He is going to have his people set up four-days of testing. One of the tests is another cath. I HATE THOSE!!!! But Trevor calls me hopscotch, because I hop around. The bruise is pretty big and I can't walk very well, but I like it when he calls me that. It's cute so there is something good to come of it. :D They are going to see how bad my condition is and where I will be placed on the list. They told me I should be on the list by the end of August. To be honest... I am a little scared. It makes everything seem so real. Now that the ball is rolling. It's definitely intense... Like camping (In-tents). L0L, sorry :D
Nothing really new has been happening, we are still just playing the waiting game.
Today I did get to take off my 30-day heart monitor. :D OH it feels so good to have off. The stickers would itch so bad. The area that the stickers would go is all red and sticky. I hope I never have to do one of those again. I am sure I will though. :D well there is nothing else really to say. As soon as we hear something I will let you know :D

Love,

Angie

Hey, Dad.
I am sending you some pics that I took yesterday for Evie's birthday. We had a good time with Aimee and her family. They are good friends to us.
Today I spent the day planning our Nor Cal trip. I'm pretty excited. I have a 1/2 an inch of papers that I printed.
Anyway, I'm sending the pics now.
Love,
Mel

Today my Evie turns 6 years old. Aimee has invited us over to her house for some swimming, hot dogs, cake, and shrimp. Evie loves shrimp. I think it is so sweet for Aimee to do this. Anyway, since Evie can't read too well yet, I can tell you that we are going to buy her a swing set for her birthday. She has to wait until Saturday to get it though because that is the soonest Eddie can put it together.

We still haven't heard back from the cardiologist. I keep meaning to call them and give them a little piece of my mind. The message line where I left a message said they will return my call within an hour. I am not looking forward to the fight against insurance companies, hospitals and doctors offices that is to come.

Well, I am going to be late if I don't go get in the shower.

Love to all!

-Melissa

Dad, I started to send you some pictures that I did of the kids. Then I saw a news tease on the Yahoo home page that said Ethiopian crops are being destroyed by locusts. So, being the curious girl that I am, I did a google search for pestilence and the last days. I couldn't necessarily find a bible passage that talked about pestilence being a sign of the times. I tell you what though, you start off looking up one thing and there are so many rabbit trails to go down when it comes to prophecy. I read Mark 13. Good passage. I recently heard a teaching by Bob Coy where he talked about the increase of diseases and the resurgence of diseases that have been long gone like small pox. He got his information from the CDC! Anyway, I don't know why I went off on that subject. I haven't even been a devout follower of end times studies. God keeps putting things in my path when it comes to them though. I think it would be so cool if Jesus came back before Angie needed her transplant or even got sick. We were just finishing a study of Daniel when she got diagnosed. One of the first thoughts I had was, "Jesus could come back before this is an issue." Then someone on her prayer chain posted the same thing. I like God.

Well, I am sending the pictures now. They didn't come out as good as I had wanted. One day I am going to buy myself some lighting equipment.

Love,

-Mel

We got this today, I thought I would share it

Dear Dad,

I hope you had a nice Father’s Day.

This morning I woke up because Angela was telling me that she didn’t feel good. She was shivering uncontrollably, her face and her hands were totally white and she had been throwing up. She said that she had cramps. I took an ECG and sent it in. They said that there wasn’t anything on there that they needed to call the doctor over. I also called her cardiologist but haven’t heard back from him. She is better now. I wonder if cramps could do all that?

I feel really bad for Katlyn. She feels like she is a slacker because she’s not enrolled in college or has a job. I really need her here with us but I don’t want her to have to put her life on hold for the family’s sake. Today she was going to go down and enroll in the community college. Now she said that she doesn’t want to go because she is scared about what happened this morning. I think she is going to try to call and get some information over the phone.

On a lighter note, did I tell you that we are planning a trip to Nor Cal in July? We don’t really have the money for it, but once Angie is listed, we are going to be stuck in this area for a while. So, we are just doing it anyway. Eddie is the only one of us who has ever been up there. Funny to live all those years in So Cal and to have driven all the way to New York but never made it to San Francisco. Anyway, we’re excited to see the northern coast and the redwoods. Of course I FINALLY get to see Candlestick Park too. J I had mentioned taking a trip to one of the transplant team. She said that we could take trips while she is listed. We would just have to let them know so they can remove her from the list while we’re gone! Who would do that?!?

Hopefully, I will take some pictures of the kids today. I have been waiting for the sun to be more to the north so the light was right.. We’ll see.

Love you guys!

-Mel

Dear, Dad:
Thank you for keeping the blog site alive until we can come back to it.. Say "hi" to mom for us. :)
Love,
-Mel.

We Are Removing Ourselves As "Owners" Of This Blog

We have given this site to a third party who is in no way affiliated with the fund raising for Angela. None of us any longer have access to change, add to, or remove anything from this site. The third party is the sole person in control of this site and can do with it as he wishes.

The Transplant Team Meeting

This is Angie, Rainna, and Evelyn coloring at the doctors appointment. We met with the transplant team from UMC yesterday. I really liked them. Dr. Copeland is a soft spoken older man. He's one of those people that I know I can easily get along with. They reviewed all of the medical records for Angela. He agreed that she has restrictive cardiomyopathy and that she doesn't have anything else short of a transplant that we can do to fix it. He ordered a series of tests that are going to require us to be in Tucson for 4 days. After they have reviewed the tests they will decide if they are going to do the transplant. They will send everything in to our insurance company. Once they get approval from the insurance, they will call us back in. They will go over all of the test results with us and let us know if they are going to do the transplant. We pretty much knew all of this and have even blogged about it. However, there were some new things that we learned. I asked about the 2-3 years average time on the waiting list. One of the coordinators said that because of Angela's weight, her blood type and her age her wait won't be 2-3 years but shorter. We knew that they match donors with recipients in the same weight "range" but we didn't know the range. The coordinator said that the range was + or - 20 lbs from Angie's weight. Angie weighs 108. I think that is a pretty good sized pool of people. We asked if Angie could be airvac ed to UMC. They said that was definitely something that we could do. That means that we don't have to relocate and put Angela in a position to hurry up and make new friends. We also nailed down some time frames. The testing will probably get done in about 6 weeks. By the time the tests come back, the team reviews it, the insurance approves the surgery and we are called back in to meet with the transplant team, we are looking at the end of August to be listed. This is a good time for us. We have been holding off in reminding everyone about the "family" get together at Huntington Beach in August until we knew if we could make it. Well, we can so it's on! Relient K and Skillet are going to be at the Harvest Crusade that weekend too! Relient K is Katlyn's favorite band.

Thanks for reading this.

And We're Back! (Thank you Clever Trevor!)

Angela's cardiologist Dr. Shah called a couple of days ago. Angie was able to discuss the pains she had been having with him. He said that he thinks they are just growing pains. Her monitor she is wearing hasn't shown anything abnormal. We trust his judgment completely. So Angela has been alleviated of a good amount of worry. She thought that her disease had progressed and was worried that it had deteriorated too quickly.

We're excited to meet with Dr. Copeland tomorrow. They bumped our meeting from 9:45 to 11. We should have an update on here sometime tomorrow afternoon. Please keep us in prayer. I am a little anxious that this meeting is going to make everything too real.

I am going to have some shirts made. Originally we were thinking about doing it as a fundraiser. Now I just want people to be able to feel like they are part of Angie's team. The cost is under $10 per shirt. I did a little research last night. Colored shirts are a little more than white and tanks are a little more than t-shirts. If you would be interested in ordering one, would you let me know? I would love to buy everyone one and give them away, but we just can't afford that. I need to get an idea of how many and of what type to order.

Until tomorrow then...

Thank You!

First of all, I want to Thank Everyone who participated in the Candle Fundraiser and to all who have donated. What a blessing you are and I pray that you will be blessed. If you weren't able to donate or buy a candle, I want to thank you too, for your prayers and support for the Olivas' family. Your prayers are holding them together and giving them strength. Thank You, Thank You! God Bless You All!

The Candle Fundraiser is going to be coming to a close, June 15th. If you want to still buy a candle, we are still taking orders. If you are selling them and need a few extra days, please let us know, so that we can see about keeping it open for a couple more days. Or if you want to buy, but need a few more days, again, please just let us know.

I also wanted to let everyone know that the family will be going to a very important meeting/doctor visit on June 18th. They are feeling a little anxious about it. Please hold them up in prayer this week as they wait for that appointment and then especially on that day. The doctor that they are seeing is possibly the Surgeon that will be doing Angela's surgery. Pray that they have peace and get all the answers that they are wanting and needing.

Here is the information again about the candles.

Blush Candles are richly-scented soy blend candles. They burn more cleanly than other candles, and are made right here in the USA. These are perfect hostess gifts, teacher gifts, and great welcome gifts for out-of-town wedding guests. 50% profit goes to Angela.

Candle Scents that we are selling:
Aloha, Blackberry Vanilla, Clean Linen, Lavender & Sage, Mandarin & Mango, Orange Blossom, Pineapple Vanilla, Pomegranate, Sweet Pea, Snickerdoodle Cookie, Sun & Sea, and Vanilla Bean.

Prices and Sizes:
9oz $12.95 (plus tax 6.3%)
16oz $17.95 (plus tax 6.3%)

Examples:
One 9oz Candle $12.95 plus .83 cents for tax.
Two 9oz Candles $25.90 plus $1.63 for tax.
One 16oz Candle $17.95 plus $1.13 for tax.
Two 16oz Candles $35.90 plus $2.26 for tax.
One 9oz + One 16oz Candle $30.90 plus $1.95 for tax.

For EMAIL and OUT OF STATE ORDERS please contact Valerie!
valerie@vjcandles.com


I can't say THANK YOU enough for the prayers! You have blessed the Olivas' family and I so much!!!

Aimee Oliphint

We Have An Appointment

I spoke to the transplant coordinator from UMC (Tucson) today. Everything is a "go" with my insurance. So, they made us an appointment with the transplant surgeon for next Thursday. From what I understand, we will meet with him and if he believes that Angie's heart condition could lead to her death within the next year, he will send us to UMC to do the 3 days of tests. If the tests come back that she does have restrictive cardiomyopathy and that there isn't another cause for her heart issues (like an infection) then they will list her. Angie's cardiologist Dr. Shah (LOVE him!) said that the probability of it being another source for her heart problems is very unlikely. Wouldn't that be nice though? :) I'm not sure how long it will take to start the testing. I'm not sure how long it will take for them to review the tests and list her. Part of me is hoping that it takes until the end of August so we can go to CA for Angie's 16th, a family get together at the beach and the Harvest Crusade. Another part of me thinks, "the sooner she's listed, the better." I am so thankful that we only have to wait a few days for this appointment.
We never made it to Tucson yesterday. The 10 freeway was closed. It took us 3 hours to get 86 miles. We eventually just turned around so Eddie didn't beat us home. Rai was not happy to be in her car seat. On a positive side, we made a list of fast food places and gas stations that we passed for future reference. It was nice to get out of the house too. OK, well I just wanted to update you all.

Angie ordered herself a salad because Sharon told her that she would have to start eatting healthier.

This was how Rai was for a good part of the 3 hours.

We're Outta Here!

OK, so it's summer break. Katlyn's graduated. We have a car here during the day. This house is making me crazy. So the girls and I are taking a jr. road trip today. We haven't decided where, but it will probably be to go down and check out what Tucson looks like. Whoo-hoo! So long domestic prison! :) We'll post pics. Seize the day, ya'll!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Today is my baby sister's, Rainnna Rose, very first birthday!!!! YAY!!!! We are celebrating by cleaning carpets! Hey! she will be thankful for it when she doesn't put something gross in her mouth! :D
We cannot believe she is one year old already! It is so insane. As my mom has said, she has had 17 1/2 years of raising kids.... only 17 more to go! lol I have learned from her. ONE GENERATION OF KIDS!!!

Our Logo

...or some version of this. We are planning on having t-shirts and tank tops made. This will be on the front and Angie's verse (Psalms 73:26) will be on the back.

As Angie said in her post, we received a packet from the hospital in Tucson a couple of days ago. They said that we should read through the packet so it would answer any questions we might have. I didn't want to hear any statistics so I was a little leery of reading it. God doesn't work based on statistics. Still, after reading through some of the information, it took me a couple of days to remember that. (I haven't even finished reading it.) I can tell you that the average wait time on the list for a heart is 2-3 years. Even typing that, my heart is sinking. Angie has handled that like a trooper. I don't know why it upsets me so bad and she acts like it's no big deal. I think I had it in my head that she would have her heart in 12-18 months. One of the other things that this wonderful information contained was a list of things that she is going to have to go through after the surgery. She will have weekly heart biopsies for the first 2 months. She has to take her temperature frequently to check for infection. Her immune system will be weakened so she is more susceptible to infections. After it is all said and done she will have to face complications from her medicine like low back pain, compression fractures, dizziness, mood swings, cancer, ulcers, hypertension, kidney disease, gallbladder disease, cataracts, glaucoma, gingivitis, pneumothorax, obesity and diabetes. The next sentence on this paper says, "There may be additional problems which are not listed, but these are the most common." Kind of like getting hit over the head, huh? That's how I felt. I don't mean to depress anyone. This is an easy way of letting all of my friends and family know what Angie is going to be facing for the rest of her life.

I should tell a joke or something to end this on a not-so-depressing note.

How about a verse?

Psalm 46:1-3 "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah"

My dad PhotoShopped this for us. Thank you, Dad! Angie's has 5 hearts to remind her that the five of us love her.

Are you like Moses and his people.... DON'T BE!!!!

Sorry, I know we have not written in a while. :/ it's Angie!

The doctors have me on a ECG machine and I HATE IT!!!!! ugh! It itches me!!!!! You have to push a button to make it record the ECG, well it makes a loud annoying noise! then it will beep. :D It's very loud and everyone around you can hear it, then they ask you what is happening.:D ugh! l0l

Today, I went to church, *well now its Monday so...* Yesterday, I went to church :D Troy Rud spoke, Oh he is my favorite. He talked about Moses,and how the trip to the promise land was only suppose to be 11 days. But due to the hearts of the people, God pro-longed it. They would get mad at God and did not put there trust in him. Trevor kept looking at me (Don't you hate when you have the person you like convict you like that! :D I am thankful for it though) It really got to me though, because I have been having a hard time. I have been asking the why question a lot. That is not the right attitude I need to put more trust into the Lord.

Yesterday, we received a booklet in the mail. It was all about what to expect from the transplant. My mom read it. She told me a couple of things. I have a very hard road ahead. God has put some amazing people in my life though that will help me get through it all. As I have been reminded of tonight ;D

On Friday, we had a Candle Party. It got me to tear up. There were people there I have only talked to a couple of times, and people I have never seen. A lady made bracelets, another did pedicures. One opened her house. And all these people gave up part of there day to come. It's amazing to see everyone that has helped. Thank you to everyone. Even if it's just one prayer that you have prayed for me, that is more than I could ask for! Thank you!

The Word For Today Is...

We had Gayle Erwin as a guest teacher at church a few weeks ago. He told a story of a leader who wanted to get an encouraging message out to his followers. However, he only had the ability to send one word. After some careful thought he chose the word, "others." After service, Gayle gave away bumper stickers that say "others" on them. We have 7 or so of them stuck around our house. It says in the bible that in the last days, people will be lovers of themselves. I know, for our family, that is definitely true. We're really good at throwing pity parties for ourselves. I am trying to teach the girls (and get some practice at it myself) that happiness is found in doing for others rather than focusing on ourselves. Yesterday I was reading some of the comments people have posted on here. I thought, "I don't even know some of these people yet they are praying for my daughter." I want to be able to pray for you as well. We do pray general prayers for everyone who has shown an interest in Angie. If you have something that you are going through, please post it or you can email us at fadinge@yahoo.com. We WILL pray for you.

As an update...I finally tracked down the transplant coordinator from Tucson. She said that she is sending Angie's case to the financial people from the hospital. They are going to contact my insurance to make sure she is approved for Tucson. That takes about 2 weeks (not happy about that). After that, we will go in and have a consultation with the head surgeon. They are aiming for the 18th for that consultation. Once we have met with the surgeon, they will set up the testing they want Angie to have done. Baby steps. Very slow baby steps. Still it is steps and I need to remember that my God is in control, not the coordinators or insurance company or surgeons. I am learning patience.

Today Makes 3 Weeks

So today makes it 3 weeks since we saw the coordinator. She had told us that it would take 2-3 weeks to hear from the transplant people in Tucson. We are waiting for them to call us in to begin the process of getting Angie listed. I woke up this morning with that song from Jeopardy playing in my head. Poor Aimee came over yesterday and I was such a grouch. I'm not good at waiting. I talked to the coordinator (Sharon) on Friday. She told me that it took a few days for her to send the information to Tucson. Realistically it has only been a week and a half, she said. She did say that she now knew the name of my insurance case worker as well as the surgical coordinator in Tucson. I was supposed to get an email with that information. The email never came. So we called her and left a message yesterday to remind her that we were expecting an email. Still nothing. Sharon is a real sweety so I'm not trying to bash her. I am just frustrated. ANY something new would help feel like we're making progress.

Angela has had a few different episodes that have scared us. I talked about them in an earlier post. Last night she was crying in bed saying that her chest and back hurt. Sharon had told us that if there are things that we can do to lessen the pain, it is rib pain not heart. Heat helped so we didn't go to the ER. It would still make me feel a WHOLE lot better to get her thoroughly checked out. That's what they are supposed to do in Tucson. Again I hear that Jeopardy song.

Anyway, either I'm venting or cautioning people who may see me. :)

Just A Couple Of Pictures

This is Angie and Roxie with a very sweet guy named Thomas. Rox got her In N Out fix before going back to Texas. Thomas hooked her up with some bumper stickers so she could be the envy of all her former Californian now Texan friends.









Two Hotties!

Angie Says My Posts Are Too Long

Hey there, everyone. I just want to send out a quick note. Angela has had a cold for about 2 weeks now. She isn’t too sick but her voice is raspy and cute. :) Anyway, she has had a few episodes where she was easily winded by doing simple things like walking down the street. Shortness of breath is a big red flag. I have been praying that it was because of her cold and not because her condition had deteriorated this fast. Sharon the coordinator called the cardiologist. They are going to put her on a heart monitor here at home. Normally they want a good 24 hours on the monitor, but this time they want her on it for 30 days. I don’t know if this is necessarily bad news, but it’s enough to cause a little anxiety.

Roxie is going home tomorrow too so Angie is going to be sad.

One last thing, a friend of Angie’s has a 19-year-old brother who was taken to the ER last night with chest pain. They have mentioned possible cardiomyopathy. They also think he might have had a heart attack. If anyone who is reading this could stop and say a prayer for Alex, I know the family could use it.

Thank you for all of the support. We can feel the prayers holding us up.

Funderaiser Candles Starts Now!!

We are so excited! We got the order forms today for the Candle Fundraiser! Yahoo! We are selling them now until June 15th. We got to smell the different scents today that we will be selling. Yum, Yum. I have a few favorites for sure. Please contact us at fadinge@yahoo.com, call me (Aimee) at 480-650-7407, or leave a comment below and we will be happy to help you get some Yummy candles ordered. We have a goal to sell 400 candles! Please help us reach that! This would be a huge blessing for Angela. 50% of the proceeds go to Angie which is fantastic.

Here are the Candle Scents that we are selling:

Aloha, Blackberry Vanilla, Clean Linen, Lavender & Sage, Mandarin & Mango, Orange Blossom, Pineapple Vanilla, Pomegranate, Sweet Pea, Snickerdoodle Cookie, Sun & Sea, and Vanilla Bean.

Prices and Sizes:

9oz $12.95 (plus tax 6.3%)

16oz $17.95 (plus tax 6.3%)

Although COTA is a Non-Profit Organization, they are only tax-exempt on purchases made in the state of Indiana. That is why we are having to charge tax. Sorry! We were able to get shipping and handling waived though for here in AZ. If ordering out of the state of AZ, there will be a small shipping fee. The fee will be ONLY what it cost to ship to your Zip Code. There will not be any handling fees or anything else added in.

Examples:

One 9oz Candle $12.95 plus .83 cents for tax.

Two 9oz Candles $25.90 plus $1.63 for tax.

One 16oz Candle $17.95 plus $1.13 for tax.

Two 16oz Candles $35.90 plus $2.26 for tax.

One 9oz + One 16oz Candle $30.90 plus $1.95 for tax.

If you need help figuring out the tax we would love to help.

This Candles are great gift ideas. I got to see them first hand today. I can't wait to get mine! Snickerdoodle and Clean Linen here I come! Yummy! Melissa had a few others that were her favorites. It's all about what you like though! We have had a few people ask us if they can just donate to Angie instead of buying a candle....YES. Absolutely! Write a check to COTA, memo line write, In Honor Of Angela Olivas. Send it to Melissa or to me Aimee (I will email you my address if you need or want it) or you can send it straight to COTA. (2501 COTA Drive. Bloomington, IN 47403). We just thought that if would be fun to not only help a sweet family out but to also get so yummy candles for yourself or to gift out. Your donation either way is appreciated and is a tax right off.

Thank You for your Support, Love, Prayers, and Comments!

Aimee Oliphint

Me and My Roxanne Rising :D

That is me and my BFFE * Best friends for eternity* Roxie. She is the most amazing girl you will ever meet! :D
I would like to say thank you. The amount that I have seen people help me and my family. It means the world. Thank you to everyone.
I have been reading in Genesis a lot, it is so weird to me that the same person that was with Adam and Eve in the Garden and told Noah to build a ark, is the same person that I get to talk to when ever I want. It is so amazing to me! Thank you too, for the verse that some have given. They are amazing! God has put some really amazing people in life, before this, and because of this. Thank you!!!!! :D
~*~Angie~*~

Candle Fundraiser

We are starting to get our fundraisers in full gear. Please help support Angela. She is in need of a heart transplant and with that comes BILLS that Insurance doesn't all pay for before and after Transplant. When this is all said and done, it will be over 1 million dollars. Thank you Jesus that, that won't be all out of pocket cost. The money that will be donated to Angie for her medical bills will be held with an organization called COTA (Children’s Organ Transplant Association). They will only pay out the money if it is for a medical need. They also will give Angie Grants as she reaches and raises certain goals. How awesome is that! COTA is a NON-PROFIT organization!

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association helps children and young adults who need or have had a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. Learn more about COTA and their work to ensure that no child or young adult is denied a transplant or excluded from a transplant waiting list due to lack of funds. To read more and learn about this great organization please just click on the name COTA.

We will be selling Blush Candle's starting June 1st. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to Angie! That is so awesome! Please let your house get super stinky then June 1st contact Melissa or Aimee for some great smelling candles. If you live in AZ, I would be happy to deliver them to you! Other states anywhere out-of-state I believe that we can accept Paypal and ship candles for an additional fee. That I am still looking into. Email me if you are interested and I can let you know and give you an estimate, if we can. To learn more about Blush Candle's you can click on the name.

To get a hold of me for any questions you have, please leave a comment for me on Angela's Blog, or email me at fadinge@yahoo.com.

Thank you everyone for all the prayers and encouraging words. Please keep them coming. They mean a lot to Angela and the family.

--------------------UPDATE ON CANDLE'S BELOW-----------------------

First of all THANK YOU VALERIE for all your help with the candles. Valerie is the consultant for the Blush candles. She has ROCKED! Doing much more than what she should. Thank you for helping raise money for this sweet girl, Angie.

I got an answer on Shipping for Orders that are made out of state of AZ. YES! We can!! Just email us your name, shipping address, order, and e-mail address.I will give the info to the Valerie and she will contact you and send you an invoice via Paypal with the total including shipping cost (won't charge anything extra). The shipping cost will depend on how many candles and your shipping zip code. She will then ship the candles to you after the end of the fundraiser. She will make sure that Angie gets the 50% of the sale.

Here will be the Scents that you will be able to choose from for Angela's Fundraiser. There are 12 summer scents.

Aloha, Blackberry Vanilla, Clean Linen, Lavender & Sage, Mandarin & Mango, Orange Blossom, Pineapple Vanilla, Pomegranate, Sweet Pea, Snickerdoodle Cookie, Sun & Sea, and Vanilla Bean.

When we get closer to the date...I will post prices. Here is a little bit about what to expect with BLUSH CANDLES........

Every Blush candle is hand-poured using the finest ingredients and time-tested manufacturing techniques. Smooth, creamy waxes are infused with rich fragrance oils to make our extraordinarily scented candles. The result is a candle that disperses intense aroma throughout an entire space while lit, and continues to smell remarkable long after the candle is extinguished.

If you're like me, you've probably had to make some changes because of the economy. We've definitely been spending more time at home - so I think it's important to make your home as comforting and relaxing as possible. Blush Candles can make your home feel like a spa retreat at an extremely affordable price.

Blush Candles are perfect hostess gifts and teacher presents. They are also wonderful products for Realtors. In fact, Valerie first discovered Blush Candles when her realtor brought one over for her open house. She loved the way the aroma lingered even hours after everyone had left!

Thank You for your time!! Your prayers!! Your support!! The Verses! Encouraging Words!!

Aimee Oliphint

How Great Is Our God!

Heavenly Father, thank You for the hope of heaven. I think about people who don’t believe in You. I wonder where they would put their faith and hope if they were in our situation. I can’t imagine putting all of my hope in another human being…even a doctor. How devastating it would be to consider the possibility of Angie dying if I didn’t know that she would be safely with You. I know with all of my heart that we would see her again. We would mourn but not for her, but for us because we would miss her. How different this all would be if not for the sacrifice You made in sending Jesus to pay the price for us. You are so good to us. You promise that You will be with us always. You are with us now, holding us up and holding us together. Father, help us to continually focus on You. Don’t let our circumstances wash over us.

Please keep Angie’s lungs healthy. Keep her heart from getting worse. We pray that You would perform a miraculous healing on her. If You have called her to go through this, then continue to glorify Yourself in this situation. We feel so blessed that You are using this as a way to reveal Yourself and show Your greatness and strength. Guard her mind (and ours) from the enemy’s attacks. Do not let him in with his lies. Help us to see these attacks for what they are. We pray that Angela would not encounter any obstacles in getting listed. We pray that You would only open doors for her to receive the perfect heart that You have set aside for her. Help us to be patient. Guard our family against division. Keep Eddie and my relationship strong. May we be on the same page and of one mind.

Father, we pray for the donor of Angie’s heart. First and foremost that he or she would know You as their Savior. We pray that You would use their death as a way to bring people to You. May they have painless death. My heart aches for their family. I pray that they would be using this time to say anything they need to say or doing anything they need to do so that the family can experience peace. Bless this family for the gift that they are giving to my family.

I pray for each and every person that has prayed and is praying for our Angie. Bless them abundantly. Meet all of their needs. Keep them and their families safe and healthy. Reveal Yourself to them today in a special and personal way.

Finally, Father, I want to lift up Danny to You. I pray that you would remove the cancer from his body. If You choose to bring him home to You, give his family peace. I thank You for their relationship with You. Meet them where they are today. May they have a sense of Your love, abundantly.

May Your will always be done in our lives.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

A Good Nap Solves So Much

That is what I have discovered. I went to bed last night at a bad time. It was like 2 am which is normal for our out-of-the-norm family. The difference today was that I had to be at the airport at 7:55 am to pick up Roxy. Eddie got woken up by Rainna who is teething. She was not a happy girl. Then there was an issue with the trash and with the hose. I was late and Roxy's plane was early. Then came the nap. It's a good day for a nap too. It is stormy here. The sky is gray and the wind is blowing. In AZ, in May, it is still hot. We can crank up the ac, look outside and pretend it's cold though. I'm not sure how long I slept, but I think it was at least 3 hours. (That is definitely a benefit of having the kids spaced out so far.) So, I got up from my nap and ended up having a pretty productive day. I called Wal-Mart to find out about doing fundraising in front of their store. I called the bank to find out how to set up a non-profit account. The bank directed me to the IRS. The guy at the IRS was nice. He even said he would pray for Angie. We weren't sure about using the organization I talked about before. (COTA) They are pretty strict and I was worried about them a little. I prayed for direction. After talking to WalMart (who will only let organizations do fundraising there), the bank, and the IRS (who said that the donations couldn't be used as a charitable donation deduction unless we were an organization) we decided to use COTA. We got the application faxed over. (Thank you, Elissa for the use of your fax machine.) I talked to Aimee and updated her on everything since she is my "Campaign Coordinator." She has been telling me about one of her friends who sells candles. Apparently, the candle company is pretty generous with fundraising. Her friend has blown me away with how much she is doing to help us. (thank you so much!) I will have more on the candles after all of the details are worked out. It is something to keep in mind before you go waste all your money on a Yankee or something. :) Some of the other ideas that we have been kicking around are a penny drive, a dinner-concert night, and a car wash. If any of you have any ideas that have been fun and helped raise money, please let us know!

Angie's BFF Roxy is one of the greatest kids you will ever meet. She leads worship for bible study and has been asking, "what can I do to help" since she walked through our door. I hope many of you get to meet her during the week she will be here.

Angie finished school today. I think she made it to jr year. YAY! The girls are out shopping and getting their hair done right now ( AKA looking at boys.)

We are going to take some pictures of Angie and Rox. I will post some. Thanks for following this blog. It's still weird and I never know what to write about.

God bless you and your families.

Really?!?!

Oh my goodness!!! I am now also sick with the flu!! I have been throwing up a lot. L0l it's just my luck. I am having some trouble. I am very stressed with everything going on around me. Some of my friends are really bugging me, because they are complaining to me about something so small in their lives. Since I have been diagnosed with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy it has really helped me put my perspectives into place. Please friends that are reading this, do not think it is you. It is more people that do not read my blog.
I am also getting mad, because I question why I have this. See when I went in to do my Cath, it was suppose to be the end of my heart junk. I was going to wake up and be as good as new. When they told me I was mad. Ask Aimee, I did not talk for over an hour. This is also something that I do, when I get upset I want to go off and be by myself and talk to the people that comfort me the most.

Tomorrow Roxie is coming out! I hope that being with her will get my mind off of everything. Also tomorrow is my last day of school! I am so happy. It feels so good to only have my two favorite classes left for tomorrow!!!!!! Thank you Jesus!

Well I know everyone wanted to know REALLY how I am doing. I am trying to give it all to God, but sometimes it is just hard to think about everything. It is a good way the enemy to attack me and my family. Please pray for us. Thank you

We Have Our Ups And Downs

I’m almost embarrassed to admit that we struggle at times. I know I have posted when God has given me verses or an extra portion of strength. People have commented on how strong we are being. (That is God, not us.) It makes it hard to confess times when we falter though. Truth be told there are times when things get rough. I was and am ready for sadness (as much as someone can be.) I wasn’t prepared for the anger though. Angie is struggling with "why me" and she is mad about it. Because of this, her attitude sucks sometimes. It is tough because I can’t even begin to understand trying to process all of this at 15. So, I want to be lenient and understanding. How do you be sympathetic when she is being difficult and slamming stuff around? I told her it is like trying to hug a porcupine.

I am sorry we haven’t written in a few days. We have been busy. Monday was Katlyn’s graduation and my parents were here. We went out to eat and then to the graduation. Afterward, everyone came back to our house for cake and the kids played Rock Band. Yesterday was a bad day. I had some stomach thing going on. Angie was freaking out because she let herself fall behind on schoolwork. Katlyn and I were trying to help, but Angie was still being a brat. She has finals today and tomorrow.

Today I woke up to a call from Sharon. She FINALLY got someone from Anthem on the phone. They said that “yes” they would pay out-of-network costs for Angie to have her surgery in Tucson. So YAY!!!! We don’t have to go to UCLA. She also told me that she has already sent the paperwork to Tucson. We are just waiting for that to get reviewed and then we should get this thing going.

OK, well Aimee should be here in a little over an hour. We are going to watch a DVD that COTA sent me. I need to get that stuff all turned in so we can start the fundraising.

I will have Angie post tonight.

WOW!!!

Okay, so today I was reading a little book that a old leader in the high school gave me. It's called" God's Promises" And it is a book of little verses. Well one really got me. Let me share it.

Mathew 6:25-34

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, [will He] not much more [clothe] you, O you of little faith? "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day [is] its own trouble."

Sorry, I know it is long. But It really got me to think. Through all of this, I have nothing to worry about. I am in God's hands. If He takes care of grass, He will take care of me. Maybe this can help some of you readers. Just remember, God is in control. He will not let anything outside of His plan in your life happen. AMAZING!!!!

Thank you,
Angie*~*

How I Am Doing.

Hello Everyone!!! It's Angie! That picture is of me and My friend Roxie, I have not seen her in 2 years and she is coming to see me on Thursday! :D :D :D Yay!!! I want to say thank you. I love coming on here and reading all the comments! I told God, I want to be able to encourage others, and so far it is working! Thank you Jesus!

I know a lot of people were asking how I was doing. There are times that it is very hard to think about. But God is helping me in ways words cannot describe. I hate going to doctor appointments the most. You tend to not think about some stuff and when you see the doctor, they will always bring it up. :D

My leg is doing SO much better! Thank God! It hurt so bad for two weeks straight and I could not walk on it. That was not fun! :D Due to that, I am two weeks behind on all my school work and it is very hard to get caught up. I only have four more days to do it all!!!!! AHHHH Pray for me :D Well, that's all for me. Thank you! It means the world to see all these people come together and pray for me and post such sweet things! You guys make me cry everyday, but in a good way! :D Thank you!!!! Thank you Aimee and Mom for putting all this together!!!! :D I will try and write more often. :D

COTA. Fundraising.

I was hoping to have more answers than I do by the time the week was over. I don’t think that the coordinator (her name is Sharon) can send the information to Tucson until we get a definite “yes you can” from that third party company I wrote about. The name of that company is Anthem. (That should be easier to write than “third party company.”) Tucson can’t order the blood work until they get the paper work and the surgeons can’t review the paper work until it’s sent. Gotta love bureaucracy.

Thankfully we have my parents coming out tomorrow and Katlyn’s graduation on Monday. We won’t be sitting around waiting for a call to say we’re a go. I have to keep reminding myself that it will all happen in God’s timing. Maybe He is teaching me patience. I’m a do-er. If a problem comes up, I want to jump right in a get it taken care of now. I’m frustrated.

There is an organization called Children’s Organ Transplant Association. (COTA) What they do is help families whose child needs a transplant raise money. One of the things they require is that we have at least 3 people to be the fundraising team. There will be one person coordinating the fundraising effort. That person is Aimee. We need a couple more people who would be willing to help her. COTA will send a volunteer out to train everyone. Once we get the people we need, I can send in the application. The president of the organization will call me and give me a fundraising goal. They will set up an account to hold all of the funds. That ensures everyone that we aren’t raising money for a new boat. They have rules about what the money raised can be applied towards.

Angela just told me that she plans on blogging today. That will be good. Her last day of school is Thursday. That same day her best friend is coming out from TX. She can tell you more about that. She's excited.

Everyone has left such sweet comments. Honestly, I’m a little embarrassed that so many people are reading this. I feel like it’s what God has me doing right now. He knows I need to do SOMETHING. :)

-Mel.

The Peace That Passes All Understanding

So I had titled the slideshow on here “My Angie.” Aimee apparently came in and changed it. I guess I have to share my Angie, huh?

God gave me something today. I pictured our family in a raft heading down a river. Up ahead we can see rough water. Our instinct would tell us that we need to be fearful and hang on tight. God is telling us, “Don’t be afraid. I am here and even if you did somersaults in that raft, I will not let you fall.” That is the peace that we have been experiencing. We know that we are in for a long, rough trip, but we know our God is in control. Psalms 139:17-18 says that God’s thoughts towards us are more in number than the sand. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” One of my favorite verses that I think is such an awesome picture of the protection we have in God is Psalm 46:1-3 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.”

Someone commented on one of these posts that they too had issues with in and out of network facilities in AZ. Her husband appealed to 2 different insurance providers and they paid the claims for the AZ facilities as in-network. That would be HUGE for us. I am going to contact my insurance company and appeal Tucson as being out-of-network. Thank you, Steph. I didn’t even know that was a possibility.

OK so today is payday, which means I have my hands full with paying bills and shopping. God bless each and every one of you.

-Mel.